Combination stepladder and cabinet therefor



y 1951 l. MUSHTA COMBINATION STEPLADDER AND CABINET TfiREFOR Filed April2, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l n INVENTOR. (9'02" flask/2a JftYv/we s May 29,1951 I. MUSHTA COMBINATION STEPLADDER AND CABINET THEREFOR Filed April2, 1948 2 Sheets-$heet 2 FJTE E- INVENTOR.

Patented May 29, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION STEPLADDERAND CABINET THEREFOR 4 Claims.

This invention relates to household furniture and more specifically toan article of furniture that is capable of being utilized for many andvaried purposes.

The principal objective was to design and construct an article offurniture that not only may be used for many purposes but which alsopresents an extremely neat and attractive appearance. In achieving myobjective I have provided a cabinet in which are incorporated astepladder and disappearing shoeshine support.

Another feature of my device is that it is small and compact, occupyinga minimum of space and when not in use as a stepladder may be utilizedas a stool.

Another feature is the unique construction of the folding ladder whichin its collapsed position is entirely housed within the cabinet.

Further advantages and unique features of my invention will be apparentas I proceed with the description.

With reference to the drawings- Fig. 1 shows a sectional side elevationillustrating the position of the ladder in its extended position;

Fig. 2 shows a sectional side elevation illustrating the position of theladder when in its retracted position within the cabinet;

Fig. 3 shows a perspective View illustrating the footrest in an extendedposition;

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, with thecompartment door closed and the footrest in the retracted position, and

Fig. 5 shows a sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings I show my cabinet Ill having front and rear walls II andI2, side walls I3 and a top and bottom I4 and I5. Positioned inside thecabinet I0 is a transverse partition I6 which divides the cabinet intofront and rear compartments I1 and I8. The front compartment II in whichthe collapsible ladder I9 is housed has a movable front wall or panel IIwhile the rear compartment I8 in which the disappearing footrest 20 ishoused has a door H in the rear wall I2.

Fig. 1 shows the ladder I9 in its extended position ready for use. Theladder I9 consists of an upper and lower section 22 and 23 which areconnected by a hinge 24 at the lower edge 25 of the upper section andthe upper edge 26 of the lower section. The upper portion of the uppersection is connected by a hinge 21 to the lower end of the front panelII. In addition, the upper section 22 is connected to the movable top Itthrough a link 28, the ends of the link being pivotally connected tofittings 29 and 30 which are attached on the ladder and movable toprespectively. The movable top I4 has a hinge 3i at its rear edge whichallows upward movement. The lower section 23 of the ladder is connectedto the side walls I3 of the cabinet I6 through links 32 whose oppositeends are pivotally connected to fittings 33 and 34 secured to the lowersection of the ladder and the side wall of the compartment respectively.

Figs. 1 and 2 are sectional views and therefore show only one set oflinks 28 and 32, however, each section of the ladder I9 has a pair oflinks connected to the movable top and side walls of the cabinet, whichare not shown in the sectional views.

lransversely mounted within the front compartment I? is a shaft 35 onwhich the upper section 22 of the ladder I9 is pivotally mounted. Inaddition each section of the ladder is equipped with a plurality ofsteps 36 that have the conventional rubber treads mounted thereon. Inorder to limit the extent of movement of the ladder while moving fromits normal or collapsed position to its extended position, a lockingdevice 3'! is provided as illustrated in Fig. 5. This device 31 consistsof a rod 38 having a projecting pin 39 at one end. The rod 38 istensionally held by a spring ll] which causes the pin 39 to project outbeyond the edge of the side wall of the cabinet. A portion of the frameof the ladder is equipped with a reinforced metal plate 4! in which ispositioned a slot Q2 and when the ladder I9 reaches its fully extendedposition, the pin 39 will engage in the slot .2 preventing any furthermovement of the ladder towards either an extended cr collapsed position.When it is desired to collapse the ladder, a button 43 is pushed whichcams the rod 38 out of position pulling the pin 39 out of the slot 42and allowing the ladder to move.

Projecting guides are also provided in the side walls to prevent theupper section of the ladder from moving and to maintain the front panelII in position when the ladder is in an extended position.

Fig. 2 shows the normal retracted position of the ladder inside thecabinet and Fig. 1 shows the extended position of the ladder. In orderto place the ladder in the extended position, the top cover I4 ispivoted upwardly and due to the link 28 connecting the upper section ofthe ladder to the cover I4, the upper section of the ladder is pulledoutwardly and upwardly. The

front panel H which is hinged to the upper section of the ladder willpivot upwardly with the ladder and rest on the ladder until the uppersection of the ladder reaches a position past the vertical at whichpoint the front panel II will swing away from the ladder and drop downto a position between the guide 44 and partition it, with the upper edgeof the panel H resting on the supports 49. The supports 69 assurestrength a'ndrig'idity to the ladder while in its extended position andprevents the ladder from collapsing when a person is on the upper steps.Meanwhile, the lower-section of the ladder will swing into positionthrough the opening formerly occupied by the front panel. Obviously themovement of the lower section of the ladder will be controlled by thelinks 32 and the latter structure is so designed that when the upper andlower sections of the ladder meet at its midpoint, the locking device 31will function preventing any further movement of the ladder, and at thesame time the extreme lower end of the lower section will be resting onthe floor d5. In order to collapse the ladder and to return it to itsnormal position within the compartment i? the button 33 is presseddownwardly in order to release the pin 39 from the slot Q2. While thebutton s3 is held in this depressed position, the cover H3 is pivoteddownwardly. As indicated by the arrows 46 and ll, as the cover M ispushed downwardly the link 28 will force the upper section of the ladderdown while the lower section will be caused to move inwardly andupwardly inside the compartment H. be moving to its normal position andwhen the ladder is totally collapsed it will occupy a position withinthe cabinet as indicated in Fig. 2. In order to provide clearance forthe upper edge of the front panel as it moves with the ladder, a groove43 is provided in the u'n'dersurface of the top it. This not only allowsfree movement of the front panel when moving into or out of its normalposition, but the upper edge of the top extends below the top portion ofthe panel thereby holding the front panel in position.

Fig. 3 shows a perspective of the rear of the cabinet showing the door21 in the rear wall 12, Also shown is the disappearing 'footrest whosemovements correspond with the movements of the door. As the door ismoved to the open position as shown in Fig. 3, the footrest 28 will becaused to move from the compartment l8 and assume the position as shown.Likewise, when the door 2| is closed the footrest 20 will be forced backinto the compartment 18 and occupy the position as shown in Fig. 4. Thefootrest 20 is supported by a platform 50, the inner end of the platformbeing pivotally mounted within the cabinet at point 5| while the outerend of the platform is provided with a pivoting supporting leg '52 whichis hinged to the underportion of the platform 50.

Secured to the under-portion of the platfo r'm near its inner end is aswivel eye 53. Connecting the platform to the door is a link 54 havingacurved intermediate portion '55 and shook member 55 on its inner end.One end of the link is hinged to the door while the other end extendsthrough and beyond the swivel eye: 53. When the door is pulled open, thehook member55 will engage in the eye 53 pulling the platform 50 out orthe compartment. As the platform is pulled from the compartment thepivotal supporting Ig'52 will automatically At the same time the frontpanel II will move to the position shown in Fig. 3. As the hook member56 will engage the eye 53, the outward movement of the door will belimited to the extent of the length of the connecting link 54. As thedoor is moved inwardly to a closed position, the pressure of the hookmember 55 on the eye 53 will cause the platform to be pushed upwardly,and as the door continues tlojclosejthe curved portion 55 of the link 54will cam against the eye 53 forcing the platform up into the compartment18. As shown in Fig. 4, one end of the link is mounted a considerabledi's'tancebelcw the end which passes through the swivel eye 53 so thaton the inward movement. the platform will be pushed upwardly. The

partisan-ti which engages the upper surface of the platform 50 when thefootrest 20 is in its extended position prevents the platform frompivoting below a horizontal position.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to apresent preferred form which may'assume, it is not to be limited'to suchdetails and form since many changes and modifications may be made in theinvention without departing fro'm the spirit and scope of the inventie'nin its broadest aspects. Hence, it is desired to cover any and all formsand modifications of the invention which may come within the language orscope of any one or more of the appended claims.

-I claim:

1. The combination witha cabinet body having :novable'top and frontpanels, of a folding steplacder horn aliyhoused within said cabinet-saidladder having upper and lower sections, said upper section beingope'ratively connected to the front panelfand'lower section, a shaftpositioned within the body of the cabinet, said 1 section beingp'ivot'ally mounted on said s'hait, "means connecting said upper sectionto the top of the cabinet and additional means connecting said lowersection -to the b'ody 0f the cabinet, 'f vhereby upward movement of thetop of the cabinet causes said upper and lower sections to pivot into apredetermined position forming anextended stepladder. I v

'2. The combination with "a cabinet having a hinged top and'a shiftablefront wall, of 'a -fol'dable'l'adde r having its upper end hingedly"connected with the'lower end of the shift'able front wall, linksarrangedat"opposite sides of the ladder and having their opposite endspivotally connected with the hinged top'and the ladder, and linksarranged at opposite sides of the ladder and having their opposite endspivotally connected with the cabinet and the ladder, the provision andarrangement being such that the ladder may be folded within the cabinetwith theshi'ftable front wall shifted into a normal relation to theremainder of the cabinet in "respon'se "to the movement of *the hinged"top 'into a closed position, "and the ladder being extended for usewith the shiftable front wall shifted co a position behind the ladder inresponse to the nicvenient 'of 'the hinged t'op into an open position.

@- The co'inbination'with a cabinet having a d'to'p and a shiftablefront wall, 'ofa foldable ladder composed of upper and lower hlngedlyconnected sections, 'means pivotally connecting the upper section of theladder with the sides hi the cabinet, means 'hingedly connecting theupper end of "the upper section fof the ladder with the lower end ofthefront 'wall, links liavliig their opp site ends pilfdta'lly b611- nectedwith the hinged top and the upper section of the ladder, and linkshaving their opposite ends pivotally connected with the sides of thecabinet and the lower section of the ladder, the provision andarrangement being such that the ladder may be folded within the cabinetwith the shiftable front wall shifted into a normal relation to theremainder of the cabinet in response to the movement of the hinged topinto a closed position, and the ladder being extended for use with theshiftable front wall shifted into a position behind the ladder inresponse to a movement of the hinged top into an open position.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3, and abutment means on theinside of the cabinet engaged by said front wall to help sustain theladder when it is extended for use and said front wall is shifted intoposition behind the ladder.

IGOR MUSHTA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

